Scott Conroy: Republican ground shifting on gay marriage

Senate Energy Committee member Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, sits in on the committee's discussion on the nomination of Sally Jewell to be secretary of the Interior, Thursday, March 21, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Last week Portman announced he is supporting gay marriage and says his reversal on the issue began when he learned one of his sons is gay. J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

The legions of young activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference were still recovering from the previous night's festivities when Friday's (March 15) news that Sen. Rob Portman had come out in support of gay marriage made the rounds.

Florida Atlantic University College Republicans Helen Pferdehirt and Thomas DeMaio were eating breakfast when they caught wind of the Ohio Republican's flip. At first, each assumed that his reversal reflected a desire – as a potential 2016 presidential candidate – to make a pragmatic, high-profile move to the center.

When they learned that Portman's change of heart was instead a personal awakening prompted by his gay son's coming out of the closet, both CPAC attendees were unbothered.

It was young conservatives like themselves, after all, who had paved the way on the gay marriage issue for GOP leaders like Portman to follow.

"It doesn't affect me," said Pferdehirt, 22. "I feel that people in love should be allowed to be together. Definitely it needs to be a states' issue and not the federal government making decisions for everybody."

DeMaio – who serves as president of his conservative student group – agreed, noting that if someone doesn't like the local marriage laws, he or she can move to a different state.

Their own views aside, these two college Republicans said they are certain that a shift toward a much greater acceptance of gay marriage is inevitable within conservative ranks.

"It's definitely going to happen," DeMaio asserted. "The question is just how it's going to happen."

When President Obama announced his newfound support for same-sex marriage last May, that reversal was seen as a watershed moment in what has come to be regarded as the millennial generation's civil rights cause celebre.

Obama's change of heart was viewed as a significant force in motivating young progressive-leaning voters to show up at the polls last year in even larger numbers than they did in 2008, helping to propel the president to a second term.

But interviews with young activists at CPAC on March 15 demonstrated the extent to which the ground has shifted – generationally – on gay marriage, even among true-believing conservatives who would never dream of voting for Obama.

"Gay marriage isn't a big issue to me – I think it should be fine," said Brian Devlin, 18. "Republicans are about government staying out and people having their own choices, and that's why I'm pro-gay marriage."

Even among young CPAC attendees who are not advocating for gay rights, many sounded a significantly different tone on the issue than that of their older ideological brethren.

Colin Marshall, 17, said he supports civil unions rather than gay marriage because he believes both sides should have to make compromises on the issue. But when asked whether he hoped to see more Republican leaders reverse course on their support for only "traditional marriage," he issued an emphatic warning to the powers that be within the GOP.

"I would hope so because if they don't, we're never going to win," Marshall said. "We can't keep being so conservative with the social issues. I think we're going to have to at least accept it."

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